A trip down memory lane
by Chibiscuit
Summary: [Atelier Totori] Totori completes an assignment that has been way overdue. Sterk/Rorona


**This was written by my brother for me. It, in itself, is a long overdue reward for a bet we made (and that I won).**

 **It was worth the wait though. I really enjoyed reading it! So, with his permission, I decided to share it and add some more to the Atelier fandom. Hope you enjoy it as well! :D**

 **Remember: I own nothing! Neither does my brother! Well, we do own a lot of Atelier games :p**

* * *

 **Trip** **down memory lane**

"She's usually not this late." Rorona said, nervously pacing in front of the gate to Arland. "You don't think something has happened, do you, Sterk-san?!"

"Totori is a capable alchemist. I'm sure she's fine." Sterk assured her for the fifth time. In reality, he was also a little worried. Totori had asked him and Rorona to help her gather materials but they had already been waiting for an hour now. Should he look for her? But that would show Rorona that he was worried too and that could make her panic even more. He was supposed to be the calm and responsible one, so he couldn't let his growing anxiety get to him. That was the theory, but in practice he felt that his body could no longer stand being idle and wanted to take action. It was at that moment that he heard someone call out to them from a distance.

"Sterk-san! Master! Over here!"

Totori was standing on a small hill not far from the gate. "Totori-chan! Where have you been? We've been waiting for you!" Rorona waved happily, all fear flooded from her body. Sterk said nothing but let out a sigh of relief.

"I was busy with something, sorry! Meet me in Nearby Forest and I'll explain!" Without any further explanation Totori ran away, along the road to Nearby Forest.

"Huh? Totori-chan? Why can't we go together? Totori-chan!" Rorona yelled confused. Sterk also felt uneasy, but decided that it was best to just do what Totori had asked. They headed for Nearby Forest, but there was no sign of Totori.

"Where did she go? Ah, all these trees make me dizzy. Why didn't she say where in the forest she would wait?" Rorona cried. Sterk scanned the environment, but only saw trees and Puni.

"How are we supposed to find her in this big forest?" Rorona pouted. Sterk suppressed a chuckle. "It isn't that big. And you didn't have trouble navigating it in the past, did you? You were even able to cross the water with your ice bombs. That's not something an ordinary traveller could do." For as ditzy as she could be, Sterk knew that Rorona was also a smart and inventive woman who never ceased to amaze and surprise him. It was a little hard to tell that now from her appearance, since she was frantically running from bush to bush, from tree to tree, like a mother cat looking for her lost kittens. He decided to help her look, and they were about to give up when they saw a Totori-like shadow disappear behind a tree.

"There she is! Totori-chan! Wait!" They followed the fleeing figure of Totori, but the chase proved to be even more difficult than the last one. They lost track of Totori multiple times, only to quickly find her again. This went on for a while, and eventually they arrived at Traveller's Way, where they lost Totori yet again. Sterk looked around to see if he could catch a glimpse of her anywhere, but stopped when he saw Rorona hesitate with a concerned look in her eyes.

"The bandits here are gone now." Sterk said slightly amused. Rorona flushed and walked away as if she didn't hear what Sterk had said. "Be careful not to bump into someone accidently" He teased. That got a reaction out of the young alchemist.

"Oh, I already said I was sorry! Those bandits shouldn't have looked so normal in the first place. It was all their fault!"

"Even the second and third time?"

"That was…Totori -chan! There she is!" Sterk quickly turned toward the small grove of trees that Rorona frantically waved at. He was just in time to see the silhouette of Totori disappear beyond the trees.

"Ah, there she goes again! Totori-chan! Wait up!" Rorona rushed after her pupil and Sterk had no choice but to follow. They chased Totori for miles but somehow she didn't seem to tire and they could never seem to catch up. For the first time Sterk noticed something odd about Totori. They couldn't catch up, but neither did they lose ground on her, despite the fact that he and Rorona started to get tired. She always remained at the same distance, not too close, but also not too far away. Eventually they lost sight of her again, right around the time they arrived at the entrance to the Catacombs. Rorona shivered for a second and stepped closer to Sterk.

"Still afraid of ghosts, even with Pamela around for all this time?"

"Pamela is a friend, although she sometimes still scares me a little. And those other ghosts are real meanies! Even if you try to whack them with your staff they still sneak up on you!" Rorona huffed.

"But you showed them who's boss in the end, didn't you? You explored the Catacombs and gathered materials, even though you were scared. That's really something." Rorona smiled uneasily at the compliment.

"Thank you Sterk-san, but I didn't do it alone. I had you and my friends with me! You may look a little scary, but you're much more dependable than I am!"

Sterk's stomach fluttered at the compliment, and the bright smile that accompanied it. He wanted to reply that it was merely his duty as a knight but decided not to. That was something that the old, pre-Rorona Sterk would do.

"I was more than happy to help you, Rorona. You did a lot for the kingdom and me as well."

Rorona nodded smiling. "Yea, but you also work really hard Sterk, I learned a lot from hanging out with you! I couldn't have done all this without you."

Sterk turned his face to hide the blush that coloured his cheeks and tried to find a suitable reply, but from the corner of his eye he suddenly saw Totori run off in the distance. "There she is! Come on, this time we'll catch her for sure."

"R-right! I'm right behind you!" Rorona cheered to hide her obvious fatigue.

They started to chase Totori again and again they lost track of her when they came to another familiar area. Sterk fell silent for a moment and involuntarily touched his chest. They had come to the Ster Highlands, where he suffered his first mayor defeat and injury at the hands of Sumi Sterm. He felt uneasy at the mere thought of the event, and suddenly realised that he might not be the only one. He turned to Rorona. Her face looked grim and her eyes were full of tears.

"Rorona, look, it wasn't…"

"Don't say it wasn't my fault, because it was!" Rorona yelled, unable to hold back the tears. Sterk was surprised for a moment, but then gathered his thoughts again.

"He took us by surprise, there wasn't anything you could have done."

"Don't say that! He attacked me and you saved me. You got hurt because I didn't pay attention, even though you had warned me to stay away from the dragon!" Rorona sobbed.

"I told you about this place and the dragon in the first place. And I came with you even though I knew you were going. I could have stopped you but I didn't, so the blame is also on me."

"B-but if I hadn't gone there, you wouldn't have been there, and you woulbve being phhine, and you woulbn't,woulbn't…" Rorona's words drowned in her tears and she started crying. Her sadness cut through Sterk harder than any sword could have ever done. He tried to finds words to comfort her, didn't find any, and eventually did the first thing that came to mind, something that had been on his mind for a long time. He grabbed Rorona and held her tightly, pushing her wet, sad face against his chest. The crying stopped but Sterk didn't let her go. He simply held her, and everything around them seemed to blur into nothingness.

"S-Sterk-san, you can stop now. I'm fine…"

"No you're not. You have to stop blaming yourself for it Rorona. It was a mistake, one we both made so we both are responsible. If something had happened to you then I would have never forgiven myself. But your cheerful attitude and bright smile made me forget all the pain I had to endure. I was always happy when you came to visit and sad when you left. The truth is, that you healed me more than Astrid and the physicians. You healed my heart and soul."

"Sterk-san, I didn't…"

"Anyway, that's how I feel about it." Sterk interrupted her, embarrassed that he had let out everything he had ever kept hidden from her in one emotional minute. He let go of Rorona and wanted to suggest looking for Totori again, but Rorona moved closer again, wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his chest.

"Just a little longer. I'm tired from running and Totori-chan is nowhere to be found so…let's just stay like this for a little longer…o-okay?"

Sterk smiled and returned the embrace. "Any longer and I can't promise I will ever let you go again, you know."

"That's fine, I don't mind that….at all.' Rorona whispered.

* * *

"An automaton?"

Totori nodded and smiled slightly at Mimi's confused expression. She took a sip from her tea, ignoring all the looks they got from the other customers in Iksel's cafe _._

' _Mimi really needs to work on her voice volume, she always knows how to draw a crowd. But I guess that makes her Mimi'._ Totori thought, hiding her amused expression in her teacup.

"Why would you let Marc make something like that for you?" Mimi asked, not intent on lowering her voice.

"I didn't, he was already trying to make a robot that is more advanced and user-friendly than the last one we made, and he needed my help to do it. I simply asked him to make the prototype look like me."

Mimi's face went from confused to utterly shocked. "Why on earth would you ever want to do that?!"

"Oh, let's just say I needed it to help me with an assignment whose deadline kept being pushed up so much, that it started bothering me." Totori replied with a mischievous smile.

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 **Thanks for reading! And BIG THANKS to my brother for writing it~**

 **Chibiscuit~**


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